Identification and analysis of parasites in mammals often involves a large degree of manual preparation and analysis of specimens. The most common identification techniques involve optical microscopy, which is a very labor-intensive practice. Recently, alternate analytical methods involving antigen-antibody detection techniques have been shown to provide identification of certain parasites. These alternate techniques are amenable to automated methods, but so far have been carried out manually.
One prior art product which is presently available is a HEMOLEX Sampling Set (Cat. No. 67281) available from Orion Diagnostica of Finland. This set comprises a vial having a reagent contained therein, a stick for collecting a fecal sample, with a large cap at the top thereof which threadedly engages the vial, and a filter disposed at an upper end of the stick. To collect a specimen, the vial is opened, and the stick is inserted into the feces to be sampled. Once the fecal specimen has been collected on the end of the stick, the stick is inserted into the vial, after which the large cap is threadedly engaged with the vial to seal the vial, and the vial is shaken vigorously to mix the sample in the liquid reagent. The closed vial is then sent by the practitioner to a laboratory for analysis. To analyze the sample, a small cap disposed on the large cap directly over the upper end of the stick is opened, and the vial is inverted so that a small portion of the liquid sample mixture in the vial flows around the stick and exits through the small cap opening after passing through the filter at the top of the stick directly below the small cap opening. The filter ensures that the sample which exits the vial onto a test slide or the like does not include excessively large pieces of fecal material.
Typically, the laboratory will analyze the submitted fecal sample using an immunochemical test for the detection of native human hemoglobin therein, which is an indicator of fecal occult blood, detection of which is important in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with suspected gastrointestinal bleeding. However, similar fecal specimen testing filtration vials may be used to collect specimens for other diagnostic tests as well, such as detecting rotaviral or adenoviral antigens, for example. A problem with the Orion Diagnostic system is that it is only suitable for manual preparation and analysis of the fecal specimen.
What is needed, therefore, is a fecal antigen specimen collection apparatus which is easy and convenient to use and which is adapted for convenient use with automated immunodiagnostic instruments.